lost in the mists of time
by just ignore me
Summary: this is a slight lotr crossover...legolas is will turner what havoc will ensue?
1. of song and fighting and fortune telling

Chapter 1

First he had lost the first line. Numenor now he was having to leave middle earth all together, not that it was called that any more now the native men of that land called the place Britain and the main city was based in the land Mordor, in fact the city of London covered the entire of the place that was once the domain of the dark lord, the mountain of doom had ceased to spew forth fire about three thousand years ago, but he was leaving his last chance of finding the true line of numenor but if he was exceedingly lucky he might find his son…he was on duty in the crows nest…he liked it up here, it was the only place on the ship where his elven ears could have some form of respite from the ceaseless noise of the crew and of course he was able to get away from the accursed stink of humans who had not washed for several months…unfortunately his shift was coming to an end he could see his replacement scaling the rigging

"Hey there will…your luck is on tonight…"

"…why," Legolas felt a little nervous

"Cos singing and dancing are just about to start"

Legolas grimaced at this remark, the crew of this ship sang about as well as a sober dwarf

"You'd better hurry the captain and his guests are going to be watching"

"Thank you, I will take the swiftest way down" with that he slid down the blossoming front of a sail and landed silently on the deck, he looked up and waved a merry goodnight to the gaping crew man atop the mast.

He slipped in among the crew men with ease as they started to attention, the captain had just come out from his dinning cabin with the mister Swann and his daughter, the captain commanded that they start to sing, the crew complied in grating tones, they were half way through the first verse of a shanty when the captain stopped them again,

"You there…"

"Turner" the boson next to him whispered to him

"Why are you not singing? Are you too good to sing with the rest of the crew? If you are then come up here and sing in front of us all…come on man" a pair of bosons came up to him

He knew that he would be able to knock them both flat all he would gain from this would be a whipping, so reluctantly he went forward with them.

"Now Turner…sing"

Legolas decided to sing an elvish song, the saddest he knew one that talked of an elvish princess who fell in love with a mortal man and died of grief, he poured all the grief of the past three thousand years since Aragorn left this mortal plane.

Once he was finished he found that the grief that had twisted inside him for so many long years was gone, he looked around to see that the entire crew were staring at him, he heard a voice at the back whisper to his fellow crew mates "that was beautiful"

"Mr Turner, I see now that I was right from now on you will serve the officers at supper and sing for us…that will be all"

Legolas returned to the stand with the crew, the captain gave a short speech and then dismissed them. Legolas was just about to find somewhere to rest when a group of thuggish crewmen came up to him

"Hey nightingale, sing for us wont you"

"No"

"Now Turner I don't think it would be a good idea to disobey us"

"if you are going to attack me please do not take your time," at this comment the crew members broke their ranks and fell upon Legolas who was braced ready to fight, next moment Legolas was going from one to the next knocking heads and kicking stomachs, he heard a voice from thee crows nest call, "fight on the foredeck," now all the crew was standing around watching the newcomer Turner fighting alone, being attacked by six or seven of the strongest thugs on the boat, but he was so fast that the thugs were not able to even lay a finger on him, I a very short time Mr Turner was the only person left standing, the officers arrived a split second after the last attacker fell, the captain grabbed a nearby crew man and demanded "what happened here?"

"Thems that are on the floor attacked Mr Turner"

"And did anyone help him?"

"No sir"

"Mr Turner what do you have to say for your self"

"They wished for me to sing and I told them that I would not, and then they attacked me"

"And you managed to fend them all off"

"Yes"

"Do not lie"

"I am telling the truth"

"If you are not lying then how did you manage to defend you self against so many, with out even a single bruise?"

"I practise"

"I doubt it, twenty strokes Mr Mate"

Wonderful Legolas had merely been protecting himself and now he had to stand against a rack and receive twenty of the best, and what was more he would easily be able to escape the situation, if he used his elvish skills.

As the crew were tying him up he whispered to the men tying up his arms, 

"Tie me really tight, or I will be up the top mast to the flag before you can say, blimey"

the men tied him up so that his blood could not reach his hand, he heard the drums start to roll, he heard the rope whistling towards his back, when it stuck he spat out the foul piece of animal hide that had been jammed between and called in the grey tongue screaming curses that he had not uttered since Estel had passed away, twenty strokes later his anger towards the captain was gone, the crew took him down to the main cabin and laid him in his hammock,

"That was unfair of the captain…"

"It wasn't his fault; I shouldn't have lost my temper"

"Yeah but he didn't do nothing about the others"

"Probably because I did it for him..."

Legolas was looking through the contents of a small bag

"…how does my back look?"

"Better than the last man who received twenty of the best from Mr Mate…how does it feel?"

"It stings a little, but it will be alright tomorrow morning"

"Do you want some salt on the big cuts to stop them going rotten?"

"No thank you I will absolutely fine" the healing skills of men had reached at ultimate low point once the elves had left middle earth

"Are you sure I thought the same way about this cut on my face and look at it now" Legolas had noticed the infected cut it was close to the mans eye, if the cut were not treated then the man would lose his eye,

"Here let me help you with that…would some one pass me that box"

once Legolas had the box in his hand he opened the lid and sorted through the packets of herbs that he kept for healing purposes he found the ground altheas leaves and added a little of his saliva to a pinch of it and smeared it liberally over the cut

"Don't ask any questions and tell no one of this, I have no wish to end my life being accused of being a witch, the infection will be gone by tomorrow morning, now if you will excuse me I wish to take a little air"

Legolas went out and listened at the door for a little while 

"He's a strange lad that one"

"If this is not healed by the morning then we will tell the surgeon that there is a man who is giving out false medicines"

False medicines…it was the surgeon who was giving out false medicines, he clambered up the rigging to the crows nest, 

"What da ya want? I'm on duty until the moon sinks"

"Do you want to be?"

"No I hate night shifts, so lonely"

"Would you like to go back to your hammock, if you wanted to you could tell you replacement not to come up either"

"You're going to stay up here all night? That's not safe you might fall asleep, I'll stay but I will suggest to my replacement, 

"So, what is your name?"

"Gibbs, your name is Turner"

"Yes…how long have you been in the kings navy?"

"Nigh on twenty years, I'll take it your new…"

"Yes…"

"How's yer back?"

"It is much better already,"

"Did you put salt in it?"

"No…it is not needed,"

"Haven't you seen Phillip's face? He wouldn' put salt in that cut an' look at the state of it now"

"It was state but it is better now I put a salve on it"

"It will not be good luck for you if the surgeon hears of that…"

"…they have decided that if it works not then they will tell the captain"

"They told you that?"

"No I told them that I favoured a little fresh air and listened to their talk after I left"

"You don't sound too worried…"

"That is because I know that it will work"

"So about the fight…who really started it an' who helped you?"

"the people who I beat up wanted me to sing for them and I told them that I would not they threatened me and I, being just a little angry told them that they might as well attack me and they did"

"And I don't suppose that you fought them bravely all alone?"

"How else was I to do it? Ask any of the crew you wish they will tell you that no one helped me, I am just…lucky"

"Very lucky, they were some of the best fighters aboard this ship"

Legolas merely raised an eyebrow at the sailor

"So why does a young scoundrel like you want to come to sea?"

"I have always wished to go to the sea, but not to the port we are headed to, yet there I will rest until such time as sees fit"

"You're very well spoken for a young mutt these days"

"I had a good education,"

"You're a hiding something…"

"…stick you nose where it does not belong and you will lose it Mr Gibbs"

"…it's a beautiful night ain't it?"

"Yes…"~I should have sailed to the undying lands long ago~

"What are you muttering about?"

"I am regretting decisions that I have made…"

"Have you left behind some one who is dear to you?"

"No…all those who are dear to me have long departed to whence I should have gone"

"Why should you be dead?"

"It matters not…"

"But…" Gibbs came to an abrupt halt; there was a long bladed knife at his throat

"I said it matters not"

"Right…where did that knife come from…the captain likes to keep crew's blades stowed away unless we are fighting"

"Boot sheaths…these are my favourite pair of knives, my long bow is in my box"

"Bow? Why do need a bow when you can use a pistol"

"When stealth is needed a bow is the better choice…"

Not to mention Legolas thought to himself the noise of a pistol was almost deafening to his sensitive elven hearing

"You know, one of the crew down stairs he reckons that you can tell someone's fortune by there ears, the shape of them"

"Nay, the only way to read ones fortune is by ones hand, pass me yours" Legolas quickly examined it, "you have a strange fortune,"

"And that would be?"

"Do you really want to know what the future will hold for you?"

"Yes"

"Very well, but do not attack me if you like not what I say"

"Very well"

"this is your last voyage aboard this ship, you will leave the navy and join a man who has lost all, eight years hence you will betray him twice, once he will be a prisoner the second time you will abandon him to his death but save him moments before he will definitely die"

"How can you tell that from a few lines?"

"Only one is needed, this one, if you follow it then you will find lines that connect with it, these are all the people you will ever meet, and this one is me"

"How can you tell that that is you?"

"It is obvious; we will meet again after this voyage, eight years hence"

"Limey I'm tired, how long until the next man is to come and replace me?"

"The moon has just set, he is scaling the rigging"

"Well I had better be on my way…are you sure that you do not need to rest?"

"I rested well this day"

"It is ear reader Jack…have fun talking over the methods of divination together"

"Hey Gibbs, get yourself down to yourn hammock afore you fall down there"

"Yes Jack…Mr Turner is up here…he says that if you don't want ta stay up here then he will take your watch"

"Mr Turner...eh...well captain is in a foul mood so I suppose that I should stay aloft else he will have Mr Mate murder me as he did Turner…"

Gibbs clambered down the rigging and a middle aged man with virtually no teeth took his place

"What are you doing in the rigging when you have just been given twenty of the best by Mr Mate, you should be catching some shut eye, and you should have put some salt or at least some of that paste on to your back"

"I do not have enough altheas left to waste it on my self"

"Your fighting was amazin' how'd ya learn to fight like that"

"Necessity"

"I can tell that you have a very interesting life ahead of you…I could read your fortune for you"

"My fortune cannot be told"

"Will you not even let me try?...I know all the crews fortunes already…"

"What did you predict for Gibbs?"

"He is going to marry and live happily ever after"

"Then you definitely will not be able to tell what lies ahead for me,"

there was long silence, Legolas allowed himself to fall into restful dreams of Valinor, he should have gone, un bidden images came to him of his days with the fellowship, the passage through Moria and his stay in the woods of Lothlorien and Aragorn leading an army against the black gates to help Frodo take the ring to the mountain of fire…he felt an arm tugging on his sleeve

"Leave me be, can't you see…"

"Sorry mate but you was just a staring in ta space…I was starting to get worried you hadn't move for nigh on three hour"

"Sorry I was lost in thought"

"You had better go down on ta the deck its breakfast time"

"Just what one needs in the morning, fresh weevils"

"It's better than nothin"

"Really…"

"Can tell you have never been starving on rationed food before…when that's happened to you then even you will appreciate the ship biscuits"

"When that day comes I will gracefully allow myself to be crowned king…"

once on deck he was caught up in the daily routine of the ship, breakfast of hard tack and water, followed by lifting the sea anchor and making way, after that was the trimming of the sails, Legolas noticed that the flag had become caught at the top of the mast, he pointed this out to another crew member who just laughed and told him that it could not be fixed until they reached port and were able to send a boy up the mast as it was too thin to support a man,

"We do not wish to be mistaken for as pirates do we…I will go and fix it"

"Do you have a death wish? You will kill your self"

Legolas clambered further up the mast, it was not even a challenge, once at the top he tugged the flag free and slid down the mast again to clap the man on the shoulder

"I suppose I do have a death wish but at least I did not kill my self"

The day passed swiftly as he scrubbed the deck with a team of roughly twenty others.

"Turner"

It was one of the bosons

"Yes…"

"The captain will be taking his evening meal shortly you had better go and make yourself presentable…do you have any smart clothes?"

"I have suitable clothes"

Legolas put his holystone away and made his way down to the main cabin; at the bottom of his trunk he found one of his tunics from when he was a prince, a linen shirt, black trousers and soft boots. He took of his shirt, his back was already healed from the lashings as though they had never happened, he heard a gasp behind him, turning around he saw Phillips, his face was fully healed

"Did you use some of that paste on your self?"

"No…"

"Then how is it that you back is fully healed?"

"I am young, cuts like this heal fast"

 He slowly made his way down to the kitchen where he was met by an angry cook,

"Take your time why don't you…take that stew out to the officers and serve it…got that?"

"Yes..."

Legolas lifted the tureen and walked through to the dinning room, the table was laid with silver and china

"Ah...Mr Turner…come on and serve, we are hungry…"

as he moved to serve as the officers agreed, they started to talk of affairs that seemed to the elf so pointless as to be a waste of breath, the officers ate with all the grace of pigs, only person who ate with any grace at all was the young Miss Swann, who once she had finished her food looked up at Legolas 

"Mr Turner?"

"Yes Miss Swann"

"It is Elizabeth, I was wondering who you tailor was, your clothes are very fine"

The captain turned his head to examine his clothes

"How does a deck hand come to own such finery?"

"These clothes have been passed through the family for many generations, captain"

The captain still looked suspicious, but clearly decided not to press the point

"Mr Turner as we are all finished, I believe a recital is in order...something jolly this time"

Legolas sighed to himself as be began to sing one of the songs that merry and pippin had been so fond of singing, from an elvish prince to a minstrel for a drunken group of officers next thing he knew he would be a black smith.

++++++++++++++++++++++++


	2. of more fighting and time to find your g...

Now before I start….I may make quite a few changes to the script

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Legolas heard Elizabeth singing on the foredeck, which would have been quite enjoyable had it not been for the fact that he needed to get past her without her noticing,

"…cursed pirates sail these waters you don't want to bring them down on us now do you?" that was Gibbs

"That will do Mr Gibbs" he had been right, but the voice that spoke now was that of one of the young officers, Norington, he had ideas of glory no doubt

"…with us mired in this unnatural fog mark my words"

"Consider them marked, on your way…and you as well Mr Turner come down from amongst those sails"

As Legolas walked away he heard Elizabeth speak again

"I think it would be quite exciting to meet a pirate"

"think again Miss Swann, I intend to see to it that any man who has a pirate brand gets what he deserves a short drop and a sudden stop"

"I appreciate you're…"

the noise of these voices in conversation were lost as Legolas returned to the mid decks amongst all the babble of the other ship hands, but only a short while later he heard a shout from the fore deck, "a boy look there is a boy in the water," standing back from the crowd of people who gathered at the mid ships Legolas watch the crowd fumble with lengths of rope finally the boy was brought up upon the deck and placed in Elizabeth's care. He looked around as a fresh wave of the smell that had been around in the air since he awoke, a smell of wood smoke and saw a boat a short distance away from their own, it was shattered and a flame, Legolas listened whilst Norrington ordered for men to launch boats rouse the captain and take in sail. He managed to evade all of these tasks and headed over to the place where Miss Swann was watching the boy, she muttered something but Legolas was unable to hear it, Legolas went up to her, but Norrington got there first

"Has he said anything?"

"His name is Willy Turner, that is all I have found out"

"Take him away, Mr Turner"

Legolas started to comply

"Mr Turner I think that it is possible that he may need to visit the surgeon"

Legolas nodded and headed below decks but did not take the boy to the surgeon, the man was more likely to do harm than good, instead he took the boy to the main cabin and over to his box, when he settled the boy in his hammock the boy started awake

"Who are you? Where has Elizabeth Swann gone?"

"I am will Turner, Miss Swann is still on deck, are you hungry?"

"Hungry is not the word, try starved"

"Very well," Legolas dug through his box until he found a packet of lembas he broke off a corner and passed it to the boy

"Is that all you will give me?"

"Yes, it will satisfy your hunger…"

The boy ate the morsel of way bread slowly

"Limey, that stuff is great I feel full"

"The most anyone was ever eaten of this bread is four whole loaves"

"How can any person eat four of those?"

"I do not know, are you injured at all?"

"No sir, least I don't think so"

"Very well, so you name is Willy Turner?"

"Yes…"

"I am will turner"

"That were the name my mam told me my father had"

Legolas felt his eyes widen

"Then you are my grand son, I am sorry to tell you that since this is the case you will probably live for a couple of hundred years, if you will let me I will explain it to you

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

After eight years of apprenticeship will found that he preferred the life of a tailor, but competition was too great for him in port royal so he had moved to an island to the north, the town now assumed that there had only ever been one child working for Mr brown. By the time bill had left Legolas was a skilled smith and was making most of the products that came out of the work shop himself, unfortunately for Legolas the entire town also believed that he was only Mr brown's delivery boy, in fact he was making a delivery today, he had made a fine sword for the commodore he was to present the sword to the governor who would in turn present it to the commodore, this also made for a perfect opportunity for him to check on Miss Swann, he was admitted by a footman who asked him to stand just inside the door whilst he alerted the governor to his presence, not five minutes later the man came down the stairs

"I have your order…" Legolas presented the sword to the man, who seemed but for a moment to be unsure of which end he had to pull on, once he had decided on the handle he drew the blade with a whisper of steel

"The blade is folded steel" like the man would know what that was any way, "that's gold filigree laid into the handle…if I may…perfectly balanced the blade is nearly the full width of the tang," he flipped the sword into the air and catching it below the hilt presented it to the governor

"Yes the commodore is going to be very pleased with this…pass my compliments on to your master"

Legolas hated calling that alcoholic slug master but kept such thoughts to himself

"I shall a craftsman is always glad to hear his work is appreciated"

Legolas heard a creak on the stair and turned around to see Elizabeth standing at the top of it dressed in a fine form fitting dress

"Elizabeth you look absolutely stunning" commented the governor.

"Will, so good to see you" Legolas inwardly winched he had forgotten that bill and Elizabeth were so close, "I had a dream about you last night…"

"Elizabeth," the governor sounded shocked, "is that entirely proper?"

"About the day we met, do you remember?"

Legolas quickly thought of how bill would respond

"How could I forget Miss Swann?"

"Will how many times must I ask you to call me Elizabeth?"

"At least once more Miss Swann, as always"

"There see at least the boy has some sense of propriety, now we really must get going"

"Good day Mr Turner"

"Good day," he lowered his voice, "Elizabeth, heir of Aragorn"

Legolas decided to take the route through the palm tree groves back to the smithy, master brown had been drinking last night and he had no wish to return to feel the lash of his tongue.

He had stayed in the woods for almost an hour; he would have stayed longer but felt that there was something amiss at the smithy.

When he returned there he found that the donkey was in a terrible state galloping around its tread mill, once he had calmed it he checked on the master brown who was still in a drunken stupor…from the street outside he heard calls such as search up the stairs and check down that alley and come on lets catch the pirate that threatened the governor's daughter, walking over to the anvil he saw that one of the hammers had been moved from its proper place, he was about to replace it when his eyes fell upon a hat resting on the smaller anvil…he heard footsteps behind him and turned to see a short man with long hair and a red scarf tied around his head.

"You're the one they are hunting for…the pirate"

"You seem somewhat familiar have I threatened you before?"

"I avoid familiarity with pirates, although you say that you remind me of some one I have met also"

The pirate insulted Legolas who in turn started to duel with him, although he did not used his full ability

"Who makes all these?"

"I do and I practise with them three hours a day"

"You need to find yourself a girl mate…your not a eunuch are you?"

"If you really want to know I am married but my wife has died"

"Oh…so sorry"

they continued to battle, their way ward duelling took them to the cart, the pirate leapt up onto it, the blocks fell away and so they found themselves battling on a see saw, the pirate obviously thought that he would have the advantage over a blacksmith at this point for his guard became careless, but he had not counted for Legolas' elven balance, Legolas caught some piece of metal on the pirate's arm and pinned it to the rafter, the man rather haphazardly swung from side to side with his sword and then flicked one of the planks up Legolas dodged it and jumped to the floor taking another sword from one of the racks, he pulled the cart down and stood on it at that moment the pirate had managed to loose the sword from the rafter and plummeted down on to the other end of the cart, Legolas went flying up, and landed on the rafters, he cut down a bale of hay which landed on the other end of the seesaw, as the pirate was heavier than Legolas he only just managed to keep a grip on the rafter, Legolas had retrieved his bow from the eaves and was aiming it straight at the pirate

"Do you even know how to use that thing?"

"Yes"

"Now I have heard that the bow takes many years to master, as you are young then I would assume that you wouldn't be able to hit me even if I stood still"

In answer to this Legolas loosed his arrow so that it buried its self in the wood between the pirate's feet

"Right so you can manage a bow, but why not just use a pistol?"

"The noise made by those contraptions is unbearable"

The door rattled

"Please let me go"

"No…I can not let you escape"

The door swung open

"Is he in here?"

"Yes he is here in the rafters"

"Mr Turner?"

"Yes I have him covered,"

"Pirate jump down or we will be forced to shoot you"

"Well I didn't think you aim was up to much, I think that Mr Turners may be better"

"Go with them pirate or you will become a eunuch"

"The pirate it appear seemed to think that it would be wiser to go with the soldiers he jumped to the ground and was knocked out by a rifle stock

"Well done Mr Turner you have helped to apprehend…why do you have a bow?"

"It is my preferred weapon"

"Very well, men take this pirate away"

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The next morning

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Legolas came to his conscious self the next morning and found himself sprawled on the street he cast his mind back to the events of the previous evening, the pirates had attacked and looted the port, if he hadn't been distracted by those pirates taking Elizabeth away he would not be here at this moment, he had to tell the commodore, he must not lose the legal heir of Nuemenor as he had lost the real one.

He ran full pelt through the streets and up to the fort there he found the commodore and the governor standing by a table,

"They took Elizabeth"

"Mr Mortug will you remove this man"

"We must save her"

The governor interrupted Legolas "if you have any information concerning my daughter please share it"

"That Mr sparrow, he talked about the black pearl"

"Mentioned it is more what he did"

"Make a deal with him he can lead us to them" Legolas had sworn to protect the line of Nuemenor and he would do it even if he had to resort to helping corsairs

"No, the pirates have invaded this fort and left Mr Sparrow locked in his cell, ergo they are not his allies…governor we will assume their most likely course…."

Legolas was furious, he had heard tell that this man had proposed to Elizabeth just yesterday, he could not really love her

"That's not good enough" Legolas buried a hatchet in the centre of the map, he watched the commodore pull it out, he was marginally satisfied that the man had to put quite some effort into doing so

"Mr Turner you are not a military man you are not a sailor" Legolas had been both in his long life, "you are a blacksmith this is not the time for rash actions"

Legolas then decided that there was not point in pressing the matter with legal men, he would see if the Mr sparrow did know anything of this ship.

He made his way down to the prisons, waiting a moment at the top of the stairs he heard the pirate speaking

"Please…just open, please"

He walked down the stairs silently and stood in front of the pirate's cell, he was trying to open the door with a whittled down bone

"Having any luck there?"

"Not much, but if it wasn't for you I wouldn't have to be trying would I?"

"I am sorry; I was merely doing what was right as the time"

"Right, so what are you down here for?"

"What do you know of the ship, the Back Pearl?"

"I have heard tell of it before"

"Do you know were it makes berth?"

The man looked surprised at this "have you not heard the stories?"

Legolas shook his head

"Captain Barbossa and his crew of miscreants sail for the dreaded isla de meurta it is an island that can not be found except by those who already know where it is"

"And I suppose you know where it is?"

"I do, you are a strange lad most law abiding folk do not believe in such magics, what is you name?"

"Will Turner" Legolas was disturbed by how the pirate suddenly became interested in him when he said that

"That will be short for William I imagine, good strong name are you named for you father?"

Legolas considered this carefully and then lied the affirmative

"Then Mr Turner, I would help you but I can not get out of this cell"

"I helped to build these cells, the locks and bars are all my design, the door will lift off, I will lift it for you if you swear to help me"

"I swear on pain of death to take you to the black pearl…why exactly do you wish to track that ship?"

"They took Elizabeth"

"I thought you said you wife was dead, she can not have been long dead"

"Those matters are not your business"

"Very well, will you open this cell for me?"

Legolas went up to the door and lifted it up and out

"Mate is that not just a little unsafe, there may be dangerous people in these cells and they could just walk out"

"Most trapped prisoners would not think to look for such a simple solution, any how would you like to try and lift this? It is extremely heavy"

"Less talk more action savvy"

"Very well let us take our leave someone will soon notice the guards I knocked out"

"Not without my effects"

"I must also collect some of my belongings, such as my bow, knives and decent food"

"Why do you think you need food?"

"I remember the food from the last time I sailed; I would prefer to starve than eat tack and weevils"

"Suit your self"

+++++++++++++++++++++++        

"Which ship do you intend to steal?"

"Commander, I am going to commander that ship," he pointed to the interceptor, "one question about your business"

"Very well"

"This girl now far is you willing to go to save her?"

"I would die for her"

"Good now we can all rest easy"

They ran to one of the dinghies on the beach and hid underneath it

"Now all we have to do is wait until the coast is clear"

"And how do you propose to do that?"

The pirate looked a little worried

"I hadn't thought of that"

"Well you are lucky that I had" Legolas listened carefully, a group of four red coats went past and as he could hear no one else near he nodded to jack

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

half of an hour later they were climbing aboard the dauntless, prize of the royal navy, Legolas was on the after deck long before jack, he looked around, all of the men guarding the boat were on the mid ship deck, he nodded to jack as he hauled himself over the railing

"Sorry mate I was just, dismantling the rudder chain"

"All of the crew are mid ship"

Jack drew out his pistol

"Everyone stay calm we are taking over the ship"

"This ship can not be crewed by one man"

"You may not have noticed my mate"

"Even with two men the feat is impossible"

"Son, I'm captain jack sparrow, savvy"

once the standing crew had been placed in one of the ship's boats and sent back to the shore Legolas and jack made a passable pretence of trying to make the dauntless ready to sail, Legolas looked back towards port royal and was less than amazed to see that the pirate's plan had worked, the interceptor was coming after them

"Here they come"

"Then let us prepare to board"

so it was that once every hand and soldier had left the interceptor Legolas and jack swung aboard, Legolas went along the railing cutting off the ropes that held her fast to the dauntless and with that they sailed away, Legolas heard a call of "sailors back to the interceptor…now" and saw a brave man swing out and miss thee stern rail by about ten foot, it seemed that jack was unable to let the event pass with out an insult to authority

"Thank you commodore for getting us ready to make way, we would have had a hard time of it by ourselves" he then had to duck the rifle fire of a score of soldiers.

"The commodore is telling his crew to get us within range of the long nines"

"You hearing is very good boy, but don't worry, they wont be able to get us in range anyways"

"A crew member has told the commodore that you have disabled the rudder chain and you will like this, his second in command has told him that he thinks you are the best pirate he has ever seen"

As this comment the pirate's face split into a wide smile

Once the ship's sails were set Legolas felt that this could be a good time to ask Mr Sparrow a few questions,

"So…Mr Sparrow, you remember you said I reminded you of someone when we fought in the smithy, may I ask you of whom I reminded you?"

"Mate of mine, he was your father and a pirate"

"My father was not a pirate…"

"Well I am afraid that he was lad, so you will have to live with that"

"I am not sure that I can…but I have another question to ask you…how old are you?"

"How old do you think I am?"

"If you are the person you remind me of then you are eighty seven"

The man's eyes widened

"How the heck did you know that?"

"The ring on your finger is the ring that belonged to a friend of mine; unless you stole it you are his heir"

"This ring? My father gave it to me when he passed on, and then I ran away to sea"

"I remember the hassle it caused the household"

"How can you remember?"

"Do you not remember tom harrow the serving man?"

"Yes, he was a man of an age with me, on his days off he taught me how to hunt, and I suppose he is long dead by now"

"Do I look dead to you?"

"Tom?"

"No my name is Will now, when one is immortal one must often change names"

"Immortal?"

"I am an elf I have been alive for the last six thousand years, I should have sailed to Valinor with the rest of my kin but I stayed here because of a promise I made to my friend, I swore that I would protect his son once he was gone…that has turned into an oath to protect his line, the Elizabeth is your great grand niece, that is why I must save her, then my oath will probably take me to stay with you for as long as you life lasts"

"Limey mate you have a serious problem"

"I do not need telling this…"

"When did you get yourself a wife?"

"I almost died of sorrow when I lost the true line of Aragorn, this woman took me in a cared for me, and she died not long after we had raised a son together…"

"Do not worry mate…I will take you to a place where you can drown your sorrows"

"And where would that be?"

"Tortuga"

++++++++++++++++++++++++


	3. of durnken elves and crew finding

Chapter 3

"Here we are…Tortuga…we will need to be armed"

"I am ready" Legolas and jack had reached the agreement that Legolas would be treated as will's son "it may be the only way that I can manage to recruit a crew"

Tortuga was one of the worst places that Legolas had ever seen, all of the occupants seemed to be drunk and intent of brawling until the dawn broke, jack had just given him a briefing on the laws of Tortuga and finished with

"…sad has been the life that has not breathed deep the prelifilos bouquet that is Tortuga, savvy…what do you think of it?" 

"The memory will linger"

"I tell you mate if every town in the world was like this one no man would ever feel unwanted…"

"An elf still would"

"…Scarlet!"

Great now the man would go off after his prostitutes for the night, Legolas was surprised to hear a loud smack of a woman's hand passing over a man's face and looked to see jack muttering "not sure I deserved that"

"Giselle…"

"Who was she?"

"What?"

By the sound of it Mr Sparrow's head had been hit with considerable force again

"What was that about not feeling unwanted?"

"Oh stow that sort of talk…we must try to find Gibbs"

"Gibbs? Did he come from the royal merchant navy?"

"Yes…how did you know that?"

"I met him on his last voyage with that navy, he may even recognise me"

They found Gibbs sleeping with some pigs behind an inn, jack emptied the bucket he was carrying on the mans head

"Curse you for breathing you slack jawed idiot…mothers love, jack…you should know better than to wake a man when he is sleeping it is bad luck"

"Fortunately I know how to counter it…the man who did the waking buys the man who was asleeping a drink and the man who was asleeping drinks it whilst listening to a proposition from the man who did the waking, savvy"

A look of puzzlement passed across Gibbs' face before he smiled and said

"Aye that will about do it…" as he stood up Legolas poured his bucket over the man's head

"Blast I'm already awake"

"That was for the smell…but I do not believe it was sufficient"

"Who is that?"

"Will Turner…"

"you again…you look no older than you did eight years ago…you had better be careful jack, this man cant fight like a demon, you know he…"

"Gibbs I am sure that Mr sparrow does not need my life history"

"Of course and there is that proposition jack mentioned"

They made their way to a nearby inn, jack and Gibbs sat down to discuss matters over a drink, Legolas sat near to them trying and failing to get drunk

"Will, how many rums is that now?" asked Gibbs; it seemed that they had reached a decision 

"This is only my twenty third"

"Twenty third?"

"I don't get drunk easily…what have you decided?"

"I am to find jack a crew, I think it will take me all of tonight" with that Gibbs took his leave

"Twenty three, flagons of rum?"

"Elvish wine was much stronger than this man made slops"

"Well if that is the case then you and I are going to the Barnaby Shark…there are drinking competitions all night there…I may be able to make some money"

"And might even be able to get drunk, I have not managed to do so for about three thousand years"

"That is far too long for anyone to be sober for…"

They made their way to the Barnaby Shark, it was a large hovel with few tables at each table there were people drinking liquors seeing who could drink the most before passing out…jack made his way over to the bar and started to talk to the man behind it

"…surely you don't want to enter"

"No but my mate here does…do you have anyone who might want to drink against him?"

"Most of my men will beat him easily!"

"Are you sure of that? Sure enough to bet on it?"

"…Monsey…how much have you had?"

"Nothing yet sir"

"I want you to go against…what's your boy's name?"

"Tom Harrow"

"Has your boy drunk anything yet?"

"A little"

Legolas heard no more of the conversation as Monsey came and sat down in front of him, Monsey was thin man, and he was shorter than Legolas by a head

"Well we had better take a seat, drinks will be coming soon, I ain't seen you here before, how do you know jack sparrow?"

"I knew him as a boy"

"Right, here goes, ah rum, now I am willing to bet that you are under the table after less than six of these beauties"

"Really? I am willing to bet that I can manage far more"

"Very well but what are you going to bet?"

"The only thing of value I own is this…" Legolas drew out his amulet and placed it on the table, the mans eyes grew large when he saw it; Legolas covered it with a hand, "what will you bet?"

"Five gold coins"

"Then let us commence, if you will allow it I would prefer to keep this on my person until the end of the match"

"Very well…it will be easy enough to take when you are unconscious"

The bartender and jack came over

"Are we all ready to start?"

"Yes"

"then commence", Legolas picked up the flagon and drained it in a similar manner as he had drained the other twenty three he had drunk that evening, Legolas could see that Monsey was pouring half of his drink down his front but this did not matter, once he had drained his sixth flagon Legolas received five gold coins from Monsey

"You know, you would get drunk more easily if you actually drank the entire glass"

"Are you accusing me of cheating?"

"Yes, your jacket is soaked with rum,"

"Is it? I hadn't noticed, boy you should know something…this is Tortuga cheating is permitted"

"well then, I will just have to help you along" with that Legolas hit the man over the head to fast for the human eye to follow, out of the corner of his eye he saw jack receive some money from the bartender and then approach him,

"Tom…do you reckon you can manage another competition?"

"Easily, that man cheated anyway"

"Sorry I forgot to mention that…"

"It matters not…I knocked him unconscious anyway"

Jack looked impressed, but said only, "you won't get drunk if you knock out all your opponents"

seven drinking matches later Legolas had become the centre of attention at the Barnaby shark with people betting on when he would finally go under, Legolas found it faintly annoying that these men could only manage about eleven of twelve flagons before they went under, the man sitting opposite him now was apparently the drinking champion of Tortuga, the man was fresh and had drunk nothing all evening whereas Legolas had drunk somewhere between eighty and ninety that evening, the man's record was thirty flagons, they settled down to talking and drinking, after ten flagons the man's voice began to slur

"Mate, you…still doing alright?"

"I am doing perfectly well, thank you, I have only had eighty odd flagons of rum this night" this rum was barely even alcoholic by elven standards

He heard muttering behind him, "eighty flagons? He's had sixty odd here…how can a man drink so much? I won't envy him in the morning…"

How much longer would it take him to become drunk, he thought wistfully of the barrels of wine in his father's wine cellars.

"Tom?"

"Yes Aragorn"

"What the hell did you call me?"

"Sorry jack I was reminiscing on times past,"

"Your opponent has passed out…there is no one else left to challenge you…are you drunk?"

"Not yet…it is hard to tell when I will get drunk, it comes suddenly and when it happens you will be blessed with the pleasure of my singing"

"Then shall we go to the bar and try stronger spirits?"

"Yes that would sound like a good idea"

They headed up to the bar

"Hey mate, tom here wants more to drink"

"More to drink? That lad has had more than sixty flagons of rum"

"Yes and now he would like to sample the wine"

The bartender brought up a glass of strong red wine

"Hannon le" Legolas started to drink the wine slowly but stopped when he saw Jack looking at him, "there is a problem, mellon nin"

"Well mate, you keep on sprouting odd words"

"They are elvish, which means I am finally becoming drunk" he drained the wine glass in one gulp and felt himself relax

"Tom…you are humming…and glowing"

"It is because I am happy; the wine has made me happy"

(changing to jack pov to see a drunk elf…drunk people don't know what they are doing)

jack turned back his rum hoping to finish it before this boy…man…elf did anything embarrassing…he was too slow for the elf started to create a melody that had no words but sounded like a stream running over small pebbles, then there came the sounds of the dawn chorus of birds, the wind through the trees

everyone in the inn had come to a stand still and they were all looking to locate the source of the sound, jack nudged him in the hope that this might stop him, but unfortunately it caused the elf to start singing loud and clear in the strange langue that he sometimes spoke…typical…jack left his drink on the side board and led Legolas out of the door, unfortunately there appeared to be no way to shut him up so jack had to lead the singing elf down the lanes of Tortuga toward the interceptor, he was so busy concentrating on the elf that he did not notice that he was being surrounded until it was too late

+++++++++++++++++++

Legolas was able to see through the drunken haze for all of three seconds but those three seconds told him that this was a very bad time to be drunk, he thought back to all the healing methods that Estel had taught him, and yes there was a method for becoming undrunk in a hurry, he forced away the haze for enough time to make a large cut on the back of his hand and then concentrated on pushing all the alcohol out of his body, he was rewarded as his mind became clearer, he listened carefully as his body recovered

"Give up your valuables"

"Sorry mate don't have any"

"What about all that stuff in your hair? And your weapons?"

"I don't really feel like giving up my valuables, don't know about you jack"

"Tom? I thought you were drunk"

"I realised that that was not the best place to be at this time…but I think there are more pressing matters at hand"

"Come on we ain't got all day so just give them up"

"Well mate, sorry to say this but I think that you will regret this if you do not walk away now…"

the men merely laughed, but quickly stopped when they saw that the people they  were threatening had knocked out more than half of their number, as their leader was amongst the fallen they took to their heals and ran.

"So how did you become undrunk so quickly?"

"A trick one of your ancestors taught me,"

"I won't envy your hangover tomorrow"

"I won't get one for two reasons, one I am an elf we can not fall ill, the second is that I have sent all of the alcohol in my body out of it"

"So how can an elf die?"

"We may only die by fire and weapons strong poisons will also work"

"Then I would consider you very lucky"

"we can also die of one other thing…grief…I have almost died that way many times…elves also do not like to be in small enclosed spaces…that is why I made the prisons escapable I would go crazy if I were shut away for any great length of time"

"What was the thing that you bet against Monsey with?"

"That is my amulet, it is part of my immortal life, if an elf wishes to live a mortal life with a man or woman they can give the amulet to said person and then they will have a mortal life"

"We could talk for hours about elves but I also took of some drink in the Barnaby shark and unlike you I will have a hangover…Gibbs is coming an hour after sunrise…where do you wish to sleep?"

"I would like to find some trees if it is possible"

"The wilderness is that way…I will be resting at hangman's lodgings…I will meet you on the dock"

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

The next morning found Legolas waiting on the dock for Jack; he had been waiting for all of ten minutes before the man arrived

"How do you feel this fine morning?"

"To be perfectly honest…bloody awful, dunno why I only had five rums"

Legolas handed jack a small hand full of herbs

"Chew these they will ease the pain"

As jack took his morning medicine Gibbs came out of the town followed by roughly twenty men

"Hey there will, how are you feeling this morning"

"Perfectly fine, although all the better for your asking"

"Twenty three rums and you have not a hangover…some men have all the luck"

"Gibbs, do you really think that Will stopped at that? I entered him at the drinking competitions in the Barnaby shark…he was the champion of the night…have you a crew?"

"Yes, feast your eyes mate, every man worth his salt…and crazy to boot"

Jack walked along the line of sailors and stopped in front of an old man who had a parrot perched on his shoulder, upon seeing Legolas the parrot flapped over to him, jack raised his eyebrows

"You there…"

"Cotton"

"Mr Cotton do you have the courage and fortitude to follow orders and obey commands even to the point of certain death…Mr Cotton…answer man"

Gibbs interrupted, "he can't jack…he's a mute…had his tongue cut out, so he trained the parrot to talk for him…no ones quite figured how"

Jack turned half way to face Legolas then paced along then turned to the parrot which rested upon his shoulder

"Mr Cotton's parrot, same question"

"Wind in your sails…wind in your sails"

"Mostly we figure that means yes"

"Of course it does…well what do you think boy?"

"They are about as sane as Denethor the last steward of Gondor"

Everyone stared at Legolas at this comment, but further questions were prevented by a call from further up the line

"And what's the benefit for us?"

jack looked slightly startled by this voice and started up the line looking closely at each person's face, Legolas already knew who had spoke it was the person fourth from the end of the row, when jack reached the person he drew of the hat that shielded her face from view

"Anna Maria" Legolas heard the loud thump of a woman's hand against a man's face, he turned and innocently asked

"I suppose you did not deserve that one either?"

"No that one I did deserve," Legolas could see the woman nodding,

"You stole my boat" this woman was very angry jack tried to ward her off but found himself unable to…as a final attempt he said

"You'll get another one"

"I will?" Legolas felt this would he a good time to help the pirates

"A better one" he suggested

Jack echoed him

Legolas pointed to the interceptor and said

"That one"

Jack looked bewildered

"What one?"

Legolas pointed again at the interceptor, next moment he found an angry pirate looking up at him

"That one?" Legolas nodded, "aye…that one…what say you?"

The crew responded with a thunderous aye

Gibbs and jack had a short argument about Anna Maria; jack ended it with the final tome

"It would be worse not to have her"

Gibbs came over to Legolas

"Hey there will, how has life fared you these past eight years?"

"I became a blacksmith after I left the navy"

"And what of your brother?"

"Bill was not my brother, although he was a relation in blood to me, he is working as an apprentice in the northern isles now"

"You remember the day you read my fortune?"

"Yes…"

"Can fortunes ever change?"

"No…but do not let yourself be troubled…I must try to return this parrot to Mr Cotton"

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


End file.
